The present invention relates to interconnected telephone and intercom systems and, more particularly, in one embodiment, to a method and apparatus for connecting a telephone system with a full duplex intercom system using a tie line module and interface circuitry.
Conventional drive-thru intercom systems, such as those used at banks, pharmacies, and fast food restaurants, require separate interior intercom stations or consoles within the facility. The drive-thru employee operator attends to this station and responds to calls made by customers from an automobile drive-thru lane exterior to the facility using an exterior intercom system. A typical interior intercom station includes a speaker and microphone which may be combined in a headset utilized by the employee in responding to the drive-thru orders. A typical exterior intercom station likewise includes a speaker and microphone, which are usually mounted in a stand or panel for hands-free operation by the customer.
With such conventional intercom systems, if it is desirable for the employee to be able to receive telephone calls, a separate telephone set and related circuitry are required. As can be understood, providing and maintaining two separate systems within the facility, one for telephone communication and one for intercom communication, requires the expense of purchasing and maintaining the separate equipment associated with the systems. Aside from the expense, the space required for two separate intercom and telephone stations imposes an inconvenience on the employee, who, with computers, registers, and other desk items, may have very limited space within which to work. Moreover, in order to implement both systems in wireless technology, problems may be encountered with conflicting carrier frequencies, requiring the expense and inconvenience of designing the two systems to operate without interference. In addition, as communication technology continues to develop rapidly, it would be desirable to periodically upgrade both systems to remain current with the latest features. However, as can be understood, upgrading both telephone and intercom equipment as technology develops, can be expensive and inconvenient. Finally, the use of two separate, telephone and intercom systems does not allow the customer to communicate to any employees who are not located at an intercom station.
Attempts have been made to integrate telephone and drive-thru intercom systems. However, such attempts have typically focused on the use of xe2x80x9cvoice-switchedxe2x80x9d or half duplex systems, wherein only one person may communicate at a time during the conversation. Such a system recognizes which party is talking and allows one-way communication for the duration of that party""s statement. Accordingly, either the customer or the employee could talk using such a system, and not both parties simultaneously. However, such a conversation is not natural and can in fact cause certain statements to go unheard. For example, if the employee is speaking and the customer makes a comment during the employee""s statement, the customer""s comment will not be heard by the employee. Morever, a half-duplex system can clip the first syllable of speak while deciding which party is speaking and while switching between the parties. This is especially true in the drive-thru intercom scenario, where high levels of ambient noise (caused by automobiles and the like) make it difficult to quickly distinguish speech from background noise and conduct the switching. Lost statements and/or lost syllables during such a conversation can be problematic in communicating orders, instructions, and information between customer and employee. This is particularly true in the context of a drive-thru pharmacy, where mis-communication can result in the wrong prescription or instructions being delivered to the customer, potentially creating very undesirable results for the customer.
Integrating intercom and telephone systems can be especially difficult in a drive-thru environment. This is because the signal gains required in a drive-thru intercom are typically much higher than that of a telephone system. In particular, in a typical drive-thru intercom system, a microphone/speaker stand or panel is placed along a curb of a drive-thru lane. The customer in the automobile places an order by speaking from an automobile in the drive-thru lane. Higher gains are necessary due to the distance between the customer and the speaker/microphone (typically at least one foot or more), along with automobile noise and ambient noise exterior to the facility. Sound pressure varies as the inverse of the square of the distance between the person and the speaker/microphone. Accordingly, gains as high as three are sometimes necessary for the customer to satisfactorily hear the employee, and vice versa. With a telephone system, however, the receiver is typically close to the ear, and the transmitter is typically close to the mouth, allowing both the transmit and receive electrical paths to be connected together, and allowing for system gains of less than one.
Accordingly, it is desirable to integrate a telephone system with an intercom system to eliminate the expense, inconvenience, and space requirements associated with the use of separate telephone and intercom stations. Such an integrated system could also allow an upgrade of the telephone equipment to result in a simultaneous upgrade of the intercom equipment, thereby reducing maintenance expenses. Morever, such an integrated system can allow the customer using the intercom system to speak with any employee located near a telephone, including employees at remote locations, such as those at other offices or stores. It is also desirable to provide such an integrated system that does not clip the syllables of spoken words or otherwise lose statements made during the communication. In particular, an integrated telephone intercom system is desired that is full duplex with separate transmit and receive paths, and that allows for the higher gains needed on the intercom circuit.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obviate the above-described problems in utilizing telephone systems with intercom systems
In particular, it is an object of at least one embodiment of the present invention to integrate a telephone system within a facility with an intercom system for communicating with individuals outside of the facility, such that separate intercom equipment is not required within the facility.
It is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to effectively integrate a business telephone system with a drive-thru intercom system while maintaining high quality communication between the two systems.
Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide full duplex communication between a telephone system and an intercom system.
A further object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to integrate a telephone system with an intercom system, such that upgrades to a telephone receiver and transmitter simultaneously results in upgrades to an interior intercom station.
Yet another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide an integrated telephone and intercom system with reduces equipment and maintenance costs.
Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide an integrated telephone and intercom system which allows a party at an intercom station and a party at a telephone station to communicate with one another and to speak simultaneously with both parties hearing all words spoken.
It is another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention to provide an integrated telephone and intercom system which does not truncate or otherwise fail to transmit words or syllables spoken.
Another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to provide a communication system which allows a customer in a drive-thru lane to communicate using a standard hands-free intercom station with one or more store employees who are using a standard telephone handset or headset, with full duplex communication between the parties.
Yet another object of at least one embodiment of the present invention is to integrate a hands-free drive-thru intercom station with a business telephone system with adequate signal gains within the intercom and telephone systems.
The above objects are provided merely as examples, and are not limiting nor do they define the present invention. Additional objects, advantages and other novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and will also become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the teachings of the invention.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention as described above, an integrated telephone and intercom system is provided in one embodiment, comprising a telephone station having a telephone transmitter and telephone receiver. Also included is a telephone interface in communication with the telephone station, and an intercom station including an intercom speaker and microphone. In addition, the system includes an interface circuit connecting the telephone interface with the intercom station. The interface circuit includes separate transmit and receive channels so as to provide full duplex communication between the telephone station and intercom station. The interface circuit can tie to intercom circuitry which communicates with the intercom station.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method of connecting a telephone system with an intercom system is provided. The method comprises accessing a PBX switching device and connecting a PBX interface device to the PBX switching device. The method also comprises connecting the PBX interface to an interface circuitry, accessing a full duplex drive-thru intercom station, and connecting the interface circuit to the intercom station.
According to another aspect, an interface circuit for connecting a telephone system with a drive-thru intercom system is provided. The circuit comprises a voice transmit channel for carrying voice signals from the telephone system to the intercom system, and a voice receiver channel for carrying voice signals from the intercom system to the telephone system. Also provided is a switching device located along at least one of the channels, and a gain adjustment circuit located along at least one channel. A control circuit is also provided which is in communication with the switching device, and configured to selectively apply signals to the switching device to selectively connect and disconnect a telephone system and an intercom system.
Still other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description wherein there is shown and described exemplary embodiments of this invention, simply for purposes of illustration, including a best mode currently contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different, obvious aspects without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive in nature.